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As a company with over 20,000 suppliers around the world, Stora Enso can help global supply chains become more sustainable. Stora Enso has strict requirements for all its suppliers and supports them in becoming more sustainable.
Stora Enso’s key performance indicator (KPI) for responsible sourcing measures the proportion of total supplier spend covered by its Supplier Code of Conduct (SCoC). By the end of Q1/2023, 96% of Stora Enso’s total spend on materials, goods and services was covered, which exceeds the company’s target to maintain at least the level of 95%.
(Performance against the KPI for sustainable sourcing is reported quarterly in the Group's interim reports.)
Stora Enso’s SCoC includes Stora Enso’s requirements for suppliers on topics such as responsible business, safety, data privacy, climate change, biodiversity, ethical recruitment and reasonable remuneration for employees. Together with the SCoC, Stora Enso launched a practical guidance for suppliers to support suppliers in implementation and interpretation of the SCoC requirements and to share best practices. All suppliers are required to comply with the SCoC.
As part of its tendering process, Stora Enso requires its suppliers to provide sustainability information. From 2022 onwards, both safety and CO2 emission data is required, whilst in previous years only one of the two has been sufficient. These sustainability criteria are used to help make more balanced sourcing decisions and create incentives for suppliers to invest in sustainability performance.
During 2022, 42 SCoC audits were conducted, mainly in China, with the majority relating to contracted manufacturing, labour agencies and fiber based packaging material suppliers. By the end of 2022, 53% of identified high-risk suppliers, by spend, were covered by third-party sustainability audits (54% in 2021). In 2022, no supplier contracts were terminated due to occupational safety issues. Five supplier contracts was not renewed due to misconduct related to business ethics. For more information, see our Annual Report 2022.
In 2022, 54% of Stora Enso's total variable costs consisted of purchases of materials, goods, and services, while fiber procurement accounted for 44%. Materials and products sourced by Stora Enso include wood and fiber-based materials such as pulp and paper for recycling (PfR), chemicals, fillers, energy, fuels, and spare parts, as well as maintenance, logistics, and IT services.
To ensure the responsible sourcing of these materials, all suppliers wishing to do business with Stora Enso must first pre-qualify during tendering or, at the latest, before a contract is drafted. To pre-qualify, suppliers must complete a questionnaire, submit confirmation of their compliance with Stora Enso’s Supplier Code of Conduct (SCoC), and complete its safety management online training. We also offer training to our purchasers.
Based on a pre-evaluation of a supplier’s social and environmental risk profile, they may be selected for a third-party sustainability audit, conducted together with our purchaser. Any suspected SCoC non-conformances brought to our attention are investigated and followed up. Similarly, any non-conformances identified during audits are followed up with supplier meetings where the findings are discussed and corrective action plans devised. Relationships are terminated when suppliers are not willing to improve their performance.
In addition to enforcing our SCoC, we actively help our suppliers improve their sustainability performance. All suppliers wishing to do business with Stora Enso must firs pre-qualify during tendering or, at the latest, before a contract is drafted. To pre-qualify, suppliers must complete a questionnaire, submit confirmation of their compliance with Stora Enso's SCoC, provide data on their safety and CO2 performance and complete a safety management online training called Safety Trail. In 2022, the training was updated to cover several areas in more detail. At the end of 2021, we also launched a climate change and emissions-related e-learning training package for our suppliers. It covers basic knowledge on climate change, walks the suppliers through how to calculate GHG emissions, and urges them to reduce their emissions by setting ambitious emission targets.
The Stora Enso Supplier Code of Conduct (SCoC) is a binding legal document that imposes minimum sustainability requirements on suppliers. Other supporting policies include:
Through our Supplier Code of Conduct, we also implement policies and guidelines such as our Policy on Wood and Fiber Sourcing, and Land Management, Chemical Management Guideline, and Human Rights Policy.
